HP Graphing Calculators - The Truth

#HPgraphingcalculatorsstephenmendes
A short history of the HP graphing calculators.... this video is a pre-cursor to the "in-depth" tutorials that I am hoping to do for my students at the University of the West Indies
Become a Patron here: / stephenmendes

[@Arcsecant]

HP 48GX, the greatest hardware calculator ever made by human beings. Like the moon landing, it represents a high achievement that was never topped by what came after.

[@StephenMendes]

I totally agree with you.

[@RodneyFisk]

I second that motion

[@telesniper2]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/bJnbeJKXpcubbac

[@fabiopolvo039]

Stephen. Very good! But just small correction. The first HP Graphical calculator was the HP28. It's the mother of all these calculator you have presented.

[@rolinychupetin]

Long life to the HP-50g. I hope at one point HP will go back to the high quality keyboard and frame of the HP-48gx and its ancestors. It may go forward into a high resolution colour touch screen like the prime, but with the power of the 50g, one can only hope, eh!_

[@mosestewelde8163]

+rolinychupetin This question might sound kind of amateurish, but can the prime do what the 50g can? My question is based on your tutorials with the 50g.

[@rolinychupetin]

Unfortunately, no. It cannot. The Prime is a great machine for high school, but it is not a replacement for the true engineer calculator that the HP-50g is. I am eagerly waiting for HP to produce a version of the HP-50g with the new colour/touch screen.

[@redpunk]

+rolinychupetin Meh. Touchscreens seem like a waste of processor time, space and batery life. The HP50g already blows other calculators out of the water. The HP50g is built to do math, not to imitate an iPhone. That's how it should stay.

[@IExSet]

Prime is fast but it is a color toy, not RPN programmable calculator for serious user.

[@redpunk]

Ex Set Most students only really use their graphing calculators to do addition and subtraction. It's a racket and it's been a racket for a long time. The fact that HP discontinued the 50g is fucking insane. A laptop with Matlab or R works well, but there is a lot to be said about having a machine which is, in and of itself, a dedicated platform for computational work.

[@ronaldbowks7607]

Quite impressed with the time, energy, and resources in evaluating the products. Particularly like your delivery and accent. Well done and thank you.

[@WattSekunde]

As a student of electronic engineering I worked for two month very intensive on the two books from the 48SX. I fell in love with RPN and the deep stack, the brilliant keyboard layout, the best pocket guide, the best keys and so on :-). On the negative side was the poor display contrast and the speed of the editor. The speed problem could be perfect solved through some extra libs like Java (Equation Writer), TED, Organizer, UFL it goes to the sky. One of the best things I bought in live.

[@babybirdhome]

I'm *_SO_* happy that I grew up in the 80s before all consumer products turned to comparative garbage. My first computers were a Commodore VIC-20 and a Commodore 64, and back then, when you bought a computer, it came with a very nice printed, spiral bound manual (so you could set it down and reference any page without having it trying to close or flip pages on you) that went so far as to include actual, honest to god circuitry schematics for the computer in the back. Can you _imagine_ any product today shipping with a printed schematic in a paper manual?! I feel bad for kids who grow up today. If it weren't for the tinkerers who grew up in the 70s - 90s who created things like Raspberry Pi and Arduino, young people today would have no option to learn anything technical on their own if they didn't have engineer parents. I own both the HP 48G and 48GX, and haven't bought another calculator since then, but now that the Prime is out, I'm planning to pick one of those up to augment them. I may also get one of the TI Nspire CX CAS just because from all the reviews I've see, there are one or two things it does a little better, but I suspect I'll primarily use my old HPs for the RPN for most everything. I was lucky enough to have a guy who my sister dated briefly who had HP calculators who taught me RPN back in grade school, and ever since buying my 48G, I just loathe to use a standard input calculator for anything if I can at all avoid it. I even put a couple of HP emulators on my cell phone just in case I needed a calculator when I found myself caught out without my HP. For now I've bought the official HP Prime app for my phone so I can use that in a pinch if I need something fast and powerful. It's hard not to adore it, and for just under $20 it's really hard to beat. As for the diminishing quality of the HP calculators, thank Carly for that-- it all happened on her watch. I have yet to see the Prime in person, but it looks like they're trying to get back to making a nice, quality product again. It's a shame that poor management decisions over several years basically obliterated the brand and handed the throne to TI, although I've heard that the financial sector wasn't hit as hard as the scientific/engineering sector because the 12C still seems to be the standard bearer there.

[@john_hind]

The Emu48 emulator for Android really gives these calculators a new lease of life - I think they are actually better on a good Android phone, better performance at much lower cost! You inspired me to have another look at the 50G - like others here I'd written it off as a decline from the perfection of the 48GX, but once you know to switch it into RPN mode it does seem to have some worthwhile improvements and, in emulation, issues with the build quality are negated. Also the online documentation becomes an advantage because you get properly formatted and hyperlinked PDF's rather than low quality scans of printed documents. I've only skimmed them so far, but they do look to be at least as comprehensive and well written. I've always had a love/hate relationship with RPN which I found quite unusable when calculators had a single numeric display and you were expected to hold the stack layout in your head. The graphical display however is a transformation with multi-level stack display and interactive stack manipulation. Put it in RPN mode and then use the Equation Writer to enter algebraic expressions and you can really have the best of both worlds! My only criticism is that they should have made the Equation Writer the default entry method - there is no reason why it cannot be used to push simple numbers onto the stack in the classical RPN style.

[@StephenMendes]

I do not user the Equation Writer much in day to day calculations..... if there is a complicated maths expression I will enter it ONCE with EQ writer and save it ...... so I could see no reason to make it the default entry mode (I guess HP felt the same way) ..... I ONLY use the RPN mode and do complex calculations easily (as demonstrated in my other videos for this calculator).... thank you for your comment 👍

[@john_hind]

@@StephenMendes My point about the Equation Writer is: why not? You can use it to type a simple number or a more complex expression, so making it the default lets you mix algebraic and RPN entry without having to have different modes. Maybe the reason is that on the 'real' hardware the Equation Writer was too slow, but on a modern Android phone it is fine, except for the extra keystrokes to invoke it. I've just noticed that the 50G shows an equation on the stack in the same presentation as in the Equation Writer (unlike the 48GX which shows it in stringized form) which is a definite improvement. Like the conceptually somewhat similar Forth programming language, RPN really came about because it was easy to implement on primitive hardware by dint of offloading the difficult stuff onto the user, and it has died a death for the same reason. Those of us who learned it like it, but rather like the slide rule nobody is going to invest time in learning it when there are easier and more intuitive alternatives available. If it is a mode on a calculator, most people are going to switch it off (or never find it if it is not the default) and never think about it again. However if it was a non-modal option which could be mixed-and-matched with RPN, it would get more use. Even if you mostly use algebraic entry, it is a more intuitive implementation of memory functions for example.

[@StephenMendes]

@@john_hind I have the physical calculator (and prefer it over software on computers) .... you actually answered your own question of "why not" as it is SPEED..... I find using the equation writer slower than if I simply punch in ...... as a person who has used and loved RPN for over 30 years ..... I have NO PROBLEM with using "stringized form" BUT in fact, I RARELY have to use it ..... I simply put the proper values in the correct stack levels and press the operator key ...... the ONLY time I would ever use either the stringized form or the Equation Writer is if I am entering a FORMULA into a variable for repeated use ....... otherwise I am just doing "one off" calculations and the incredible speed of the RPN is that multi-argument operations like integration is FASTER putting the arguments in the proper stack levels and pressing the operator than using parenthesis or equation writer .... on the 50G there is a flag that turns on/off "pretty print" for the stack , so you can actually choose whether you want to see stringized form or Equation Writer form..... old timers like me are really happy with HP just the way it is ...... however I see your point and we all realize why modern students love Texas Instruments calculators even though I don't like them

[@john_hind]

@@StephenMendes The problem is there is no longer a market for physical calculators except education and there it is only because examination rules make them mandatory. Only a real die-hard will pay the cost of what is effectively a function-locked phone, usually with a poor, outdated hardware spec, and yet another device to carry and worry about keeping charged. HP should embrace this and sell a paid-for app which builds on the underlying heritage of the HP48 series but removes the restrictions imposed by limited hardware. The likes of Emu48 are all very well, but they can only go so far. In particular they cannot improve the screen in size or resolution because they are working at the pixel level. Imagine a touch-screen version with dynamic button labels and able to do full-screen, full-resolution graphing. Imagine a landscape option able to put the screen on the left or the right depending on handedness. HP are astonishingly generous about what they give away for free or very low cost, but I for one would pay for a really well thought out software product. The Prime emulator is better integrated, but sadly it is an emulation of a far inferior calculator! Incidentally I now see what you mean about the documentation. The HP50 PDFs are extensive and well formatted, but they are badly written and incomplete (I have been unable to find any documentation for the flags for example).

[@StephenMendes]

@@john_hind My knowledge of the Flags is only because I moved from the 48SX (very well documented) through the 48GX to the 49G finally to the 50G ...... I witnessed first-hand the DECLINE in the QUALITY of the documentation ...... but because of backward-compatibility as well as the fact that only a few NEW Flags were added to each succeeding model I was able to figure out everything (sometimes with great effort) ...... you are absolutely correct of course..... only calculator COLLECTORS dote over these devices for nostalgic reasons ...... the death of the market was inevitable ...... just like CRT television sets.... they are dinosaurs of the past..... old-timers like me just have NOT gotten used to the new "software everything" and I still reach for my calculator instead of using the phone or ipad App..... thanks for contributing to the discussion with such genuinely sensible observations and suggestions .... but it remains to be seen if ANYBODY will attempt to write or market the software you are suggesting ..... it would be a labor of love as I do not see much PROFIT for the effort... best wishes

[@johnbaker5751]

uhhhhh you forgot the HP 28C and HP 28S

[@snowpuppy77]

Good video. Yes you are speaking the truth about this. When I was in college I had a 28S, then a 48SX, then a 48GX. The better screen and built in equation library were my key reasons for upgrading to the 48GX. My 48GX is now having keyboard problems so I do not use it. My 48SX still works fine. I got a 50g for work and really did not like the location of the Enter key. Now that I have gotten used to it I like where it is at ok. Still wish it were wider. At this point I like the 50g the best now that I have learned to use it. I believe the key layout, other than small enter key, and the menu arrangement is better. I do like my 50g case. You are so right about documentation. I learned a ton from those early easy to use spiral bound manuals. Good memories.

[@NipkowDisk]

I've been using these particular HP calculators since 1991 when my mother (bless her heart) gave me a 48SX for work. Still have it. Also have two or three 48GX's and two, 50g's. I refuse to get an HP Prime until they make it backward-compatible with user RPL since I have about 25 years' worth of programs in my '50g!!!

[@kahuna1247]

And yet the HP Prime is still not backward-compatible with user RPL. Ugh... what a stupid decision.

[@NipkowDisk]

@@kahuna1247 I agree 100%!

[@mikeolson7588]

Hey Stephen! Didn’t realize you were a fellow HP calculator fan. Nice video. I just got the HP Prime calculator (no physical manuals anymore but a 700+ page PDF) and I have to say it’s quite impressive and has that nice tactile feel that my first calculator, the HP-67 had. I also had the 49G and never like it.

[@StephenMendes]

Hi Mike thanks for the comment... I am currently making vids for the 50G (in my HP playlist)..... but I also have the ipad HP Prime Pro app .... and the manual of which you speak (so I will eventually make some vids for Prime too).... best wishes 😊

[@marciomaiajr]

It's hard to believe that the hp 48 came in the early 90's. To my mind it's the best calculator ever made. Still usefull to this very day.

[@StephenMendes]

Maths does not change ..... hp calc does all the Matrix operations .... all the Complex number operations..... all the Vector operations.... does ANY other calculator on the market do that to this day ? .... plus it has RPN, the best calculator entry mode ever invented.... I cannot believe that Casio and TI have not copied these features into their own calculators..... I wonder why ?

[@detectordegados5292]

Hey Stephen and Marcio (compatriota brasileiro? Haha), do you think the HP 48 is better than a HP 50g or a HP Prime? Why do you think the 48 is the best one? I want so badly buy a HP graphing-cas calculator but I have a lot of doubts about which one to buy. Right now I own a TI Voyage 200 with a RPN program installed, so I have no experience with modern native RPN calcs (the only other RPN calcs I have are the HP 12C and a Elektronika MK-52, a very cool Soviet-era rpn programable scientific calculator)

[@marciomaiajr]

@@detectordegados5292 As much as I like the HP48 keyboard I must admit that the HP50G is overall the better choice. I have the HP Prime but although it's a fine calculator it's very expensive and I don't like it as much as the HP50g.

[@SearchFT]

I had a HP42S, HP48GX and no own a HP50G. I'm very very disappointed with the lack of good quality manuals for the HP50G. I agree 110% with your video. For me the long standing quality of both the maual and device is gone. I use the virtual HP Prime on my PC, but doubt I would buy one in the future. Thanks for the great video. Blessings

[@StephenMendes]

Thanks for your input.... I am still mourning the destruction of the LCD screens on my HP's (and numerous other products ).... and finding it difficult to believe that others have "never had this problem with any product"

[@edwardlong3312]

Great video. I use an HP48GII and I would like the documentation quality and build quality of the old HP's. When you say "speed", it's true; ordinary calculations can be done more conveniently as you don't have pesky annoyances like counting brackets - anyone that's done complicated calculations in Excel might understand.

[@TN-rp9xv]

what do you think about the built-quality og the 48GII when compared to: 48GX, 49G, 50G ?

[@bkboggy]

An incredibly informative video. Thank you.

[@johnnyw66]

This is so sad! But I love it! - I have the HP-50G and TI NSpire CX CAS. I like the fact that the CX comes with Lua built in.Looking forward to getting the HP Prime. Thanks for the history, Stephen.

[@Chrls5]

Beautiful, couldn't have said it better myself!

[@StephenMendes]

You are most welcome.... glad you enjoyed the video.

[@alankelly9577]

Hello Stephen nice video on HP graphing calculators. I am thinking to buy a graphing calculator which could do infinite differentiation and integration.(i.e. if I put down sin(3x) it would tell me the derivative is 3cos(3x) ) I am thinking to buy either TI-89 or HP-50g. Which one will you recommend me to buy? You can recommend other model if you think it is better. Thank you.

[@StephenMendes]

Glad you like it.... I'll do some more soon again

[@davideaccorsi5637]

If in Barbados everybody talks with your accent, I'm definitely moving there!!!

[@MagicPatagonia]

I felt like travel in time........thank you for doing this video!!

[@BludShotiiiiis]

I used HP 49g+ for construction of Dodd's prison in St Philip.Used Survey Pac software from D'Zign..SD card inserted into slot. Pales next to a HP48 in my humble opinion :)

[@iqbalm67]

The original Hp49G+ had an atrocious keyboard. It was later fixed, when Hp introduced the 4 battery Hp 49g+.

[@StephenMendes]

Yea .... I had them all and they all went bad..... only still working is the hp50G ....... hp computers are always going bad as well..... I have had two fail on me during the warranty period and will NOT be buying any more hp products ..... really disappointed with hp right about now

[@lvlc5]

I miss my 48gx so much... I bought a 50g and I can't get used to it...

[@StephenMendes]

Yeah me too...... but at least it's better than the prime..... don't know why hp continues to shoot themselves in their feet, when they had such a good thing going

[@SearchFT]

I agree, moved from 48gx to 50g and I can't get the same "know how" from the 50g. The manual reads worse than a Sunday newspaper. A decent manual would have helped a lot.

[@qqquuu1000]

I congratulations you by your calculators collection. also I like the calculators. your video is very well.

[@StavrouGeorgios77]

Hi Stephen nice tutorial on hp calculators. i have the g48ii and i have installed the drivers for the usb connection but can't find any software from hp to help me program that thing. any idea?

[@StephenMendes]

You may not find it from hp.... the only thing they offer is the hp connectivity kit... but if you go to hpcalc.org there are good assemblers for the native processor over there.... of course you don't need that if you are using hp's HLL .... all you need is a reference manual... but that's also on the hpcalc.org site

[@rubendarioforerocarrillo2806]

As a student i have a 48gx and it was a great calculator... the best in his time... now i have a 50g and i think sincerely that it is a better calculator than the 48gx... it is faster and better built... the only fail of the 50g it came without manuals. and the 48gx came with a very good manual (printed)... I really hope hp came with another calculator from de g series... but it seems that never going to happen... and the HP prime dosnt convince me.... because it uses a limited RPN... and RPN its what I love of the G series of calculators... I also use a TI92, and it was a great calculator... much easier of learn to use than the HP. So the video its right the HP its a better calculator for professionals... but it was harder to learn to use and they haven't printed documentation. and so that's why HP loose that fight against TI.

[@StephenMendes]

I had started to make a series of videos showing how to use the hp 50g ..... did you watch them ? .... here is the link to the full playlist ... kzbin.info/www/bejne/n56kfaWsfJZriac .... I sort of moved on to other things, but would still add a few more vids .... if you have any specific topic request 👍

[@adumont]

Lack of printed documentation is a reason they probably lost their popularity and success. But also, I admit very few people read them. I did read the 48sx books, several time. But how many people would do such a thing (how much percentage of an hp calculator would read the book cover to cover? I'm sure it's very low %, very unfortunately. And today it's getting even worse, kids can only take content online in pills of 30s max... (stories, Tiktok,..) truly a pity. I wonder what they expect to become.

[@trexinvert]

My first HP calc was 15C. Never knew RPN. Only had to read the manual one time. Got it right away. Also, learned to program at same time, because RPN=programming sequence. User mode, keyboard ergonomics, and button feel/visibility were amazing. Now own a 35S which has a weird semi RPN/ALG operation, but vector interface is clumsy. Got a 50g, but instructions are difficult. If not for video tutorial I would return.

[@Xanduur]

My first was the HP 32s. I purchased it on a whim back in 1988. I sold it in 2002. ID10T error! Since then I have replaced the 32s, gotten a 42s, a 33s (yuck), a 35s (meh) 41cx. I also have a 48GX I bought new in 2005. My 48gii was junk and my 49g+ was junk. Both went back. I have given up on this modern company with the HP name. :/ Today I use the i41CX+ app and 42s apps on my iPhone for daily use.

[@trexinvert]

A 41CX user "with programmable plug-in modules"? That's hardcore. Keep on. Since, I've commented 2 yrs ago...I have found excellent "tutorial vids" on youtube for the 50g. It is an amazing calc for engineering and math and cheap 60-80$. The only hp calc more advanced is the HP Prime, which has better graphics but twice the cost.

[@Xanduur]

trexinvert I cannot get past the build quality. If I hadn't been spoiled by HP's earlier build quality I wouldn't have known better. :) I think you are better off with the HP 50 versus the Prime. The Prime is more of an educational product, while the HP 50 is more of a real-world calculator.

[@2000prhegde]

Hi Stephen , nice review , could you please help me choose between HP 40GS and HP 50G , my usage is college trigonometry and calculus (partial diff , integrals) probability distributions

[@emosyos]

Prasad Hegde I would also like this! My exam sports the same, with calc, linear equations etc.

[@WattSekunde]

What did you think about the WP 34S Project? I wish they cold modify the new 39gII like that. I never touch one but I hope HP has build a better keyboard to the 39gII. The display looks very nice. No RPN is a shame to me.

[@fabiofrascati8669]

Hi Stephen Mendes. Can you explain me about the two versions of the hp50g? Thanks, Fabio

[@StephenMendes]

You are right.... hardly used it at all (49g+).... and only started using the 50g (reluctantly) after the 48SX and 48GX failed completely.

[@mRUSSIA]

I also have an HP-50G and a TI Nspire CX CAS which does come closer to the power of the 50G than any of its other machines. It is a pain in the neck trying to do statistics on my 50G. I still am trying to figure out how to draw a regression graph with my data. I also have a Casio Prizm and use it most of the time for statistics because everything is already there for you. HP is coming out the their brand new Prime in another month or so. We have to wait and see on the quality and performance.

[@cihangirguzey9353]

I used an HP48S from 1990 to 2008 all through my graduation as a mechanical engineer and also during my engineering works. It was a true legend and work horse. One day, it didn't start at all. Probably gave up the ghost after so much heavy usage. It had already paid itself many times. I even didn't bother repairing it. I just let it sleep peacefully. RIP 48S. I bought an HP-50G. Unfortunately it was different physically, key feel was lower quality and eating up batteries like crazy. It ended up waiting in a drawer waiting for my son to use it probably in the future :) CurrentIy I use an HP48GX emulator application on my Android phone. It doesn't give the same feel but I do everything as in the old days. I don't think HP will release something like HP48GX with a speed of Prime (I tried Prime application as well; it was awful for me. Probably I need to try it for months to heat up but lack of RPN is deal breaker for me).

[@StephenMendes]

RPN is superior system for speed and natural calculation...... HP50G although not as good in quality is the only calculator worth using now.... I never warmed to emulators but I suppose they could also be useful

[@hitfromcs]

my dad had hp 49g+ and it still works

[@StephenMendes]

He's very lucky.... I wish mine still worked too

[@Falcrist]

"Nobody goes back from RPN" Ehhhh... I don't think that's correct. Modern textbook-style input systems are superior to RPN IMO. I happen to use the HP 42s, 35s and Prime (though I've used the 15C and HP 50G). The reason I use the HP 42s as my main calculator is because it's small, programmable, and almost all of it's functions work in the complex domain (those that make sense in the complex domain, anyway).

[@harringtonjohnr]

Any experiences with the new HP prime?

[@IExSet]

Yep. i programmed few interesting things,played with it for couple of month, but how it can be near 50g??? It's like gameboy, not calculator, even Nspire CX more like calculator. And they just killed RPN, and RPL programmability. Their RPN mode is awful, programming language more like Pascal, i hate Pascal because of tongue-tie. How could they change extendable RPL (almost Forth metalanguage) to Pascal ????

[@jasonellisallan]

I will be extremely interested if you decide to publish KZbin tutorials on the HP 50g which is a fantastic calculator!

[@StephenMendes]

I will probably do that before the year is out so subscribe to the channel..... if you have not done this already.... thanks for your comment

[@jasonellisallan]

I am subscribed with notifications set. Thank you.

[@StephenMendes]

Thank a lot!

[@SolidStateWorkshop]

Your accent is awesome.

[@StephenMendes]

Obviously NOT you..... but thanks for letting us know...... I mean we are really ENLIGHTENED by the fact that you "do not care" !

[@rickideemus]

No, not an engineer, and no desire to be one. (Even less after reading your description!) I do have a degree in mathematics, and an embarrassingly large calculator collection. Again, my only point was that there are many, many people who appreciate RPN for what it does, but also understand its limits and decreasing viability. "Nobody goes back" indicates a closed mind. Ideally, you should be able to switch fluidly from one system to the other.

[@nomadvehr827]

Thanks to my legacy calcs I could borrow any machine and be equally comfortable with it. But there´s no denying on the appeal of RPN.

[@StephenMendes]

It's just a change of appearance really.... functionally the calculator is the SAME although it may have an "older" version of the software (which can easily be upgraded to the latest version.... simply download and install) check the software version and date to see if you have the latest version.... just type VER and press enter

"as you can see" we cant see, its 360p

[@StephenMendes]

Sorry bro..... this video was made a LONG time ago..... BUT I am about to do a whole series of videos on these calculators .... which will definitely benefit anybody who owns any of the models..... although the newer models have become more powerful with lots of added features, the documentation has taken a down turn..... and what's the use of powerful features if nobody knows they are there ? .... far less how to use them to their advantage ?...... the new videos starting TODAY will all be in FULL HD ..... thanks for your comment, it is appreciated

[@stefanogrossi6420]

@@StephenMendes is the video about HP calculator done? Can't find it. thanks

[@StephenMendes]

@@stefanogrossi6420 there are actually quite a few of them since then... kzbin.info/www/bejne/n56kfaWsfJZriac kzbin.info/www/bejne/jXObYnmNg5JniM0 kzbin.info/www/bejne/pavbY4V3pNSqnNU kzbin.info/www/bejne/jHzRc4aGiZesjqs kzbin.info/www/bejne/j5jKqHukpLxmf80 kzbin.info/www/bejne/o6Ondq2fndVpmqs kzbin.info/www/bejne/o5KWdaGPbJaDmpo kzbin.info/www/bejne/b6vdYaaef9urjsk PLEASE SUBSCRIBE to my channel so you will not miss them ...... I am also doing some NEW videos for the HP Prime ... but they have not been published yet..... have a great day 😊

[@TN-rp9xv]

i am thinking about getting one of these from eBay. i want to use it as my main calculator: binary math, matrix algebra,system of linear equations , complex numbers, and NO GRAPHING at all; do you think the 48G is usable today !!!? i mean speed-wise considering the type of computations i mentioned above and remember i don't intend to use it for graphing. so would it be slow ? i know today i can get way faster units but i kind of like the 90's style of 48G and really want to use it all the time, is it doable ?

[@StephenMendes]

I cannot recommend buying the 48G..... the screens are going bad, and even if you were to obtain a good one it will probably go bad in the near future...... you need to get either the 50G or the Prime

[@TN-rp9xv]

thank for the advice but no way i get any of those. the 50G looks ugly IMO and the prime is just .... sooo iphony. when it comes to computation i am extremely retro-oriented. i didn't consider DM42 just because the display is e-ink. so still what do you think concerning the speed matter considering the type of operations i intend to do on it ??

[@StephenMendes]

Go right ahead and get your preferred calculator there is little difference in the speed (from the viewpoint of humans) with those simple operations...... but be warned the display has built in self-destruct..... it's only a matter of time before they are all DEAD..... unless you can find somebody to fit an entirely different display screen to it. The screen on the 50G does not have the self-destruct problem..... I don't know if it would be possible to use a 50G display on those older calculators ..... or who you could get to do the job properly...... in RPN mode, the 50G behaves identical to those older models (except for a few different keystrokes in certain cases)....... in CAS mode it sucks big time...... but I am not a fan of CAS systems anyway, so I do not use that mode....... I also do not own a Prime, nor do I want one....... when I got my 50G, I did not like it either.... but after all my older models died and I was forced to learn it ..... then I discovered it was basically the same thing in RPN mode..... and the keystrokes are much more reliable than the intermediate 49G which was a horrible calculator...... so now I am reasonably happy with my 50G, though I would gladly go back to a 48GX if there was any chance of longevity.... another thing to consider, as they get scarcer, the demand will increase and the price will go up..... and it's foolish because after spending all that money it will very likely be dead some after you acquire it.

[@TN-rp9xv]

wow i am really shocked; i never imagined such thing as "built in self-destruct". actually when you first mentioned that the display would go bad with time i thought you were talking about regular performance degradation due to usage and wear and tear process but never imagined intentional count down. but are you sure about this. it kind of weird !!!! i never heard of a device designed in this way. could you please elaborate more on this point !!!?

[@StephenMendes]

Look Tarek I don't think it was designed to self-destruct intentionally....... in those days, LCD displays were a 'new technology' the people who made them had not got all the bugs out..... purity of materials .... choice of materials .... and so forth....... so when they started to 'go bad' several years ago then they figured out why and changed the process so it will not happen with 'modern' displays..... I had other calculators by TI and Casio that were made around the same time and their displays died as well..... HP never made the 48SX or 48GX to be repairable, so changing the display involves cutting open the calculator. Either HP thought their calculator would last forever..... or HP figures that even though the display has crapped out, people got their money's worth and so they can go buy something else. If you do get one, I can sell you plug-in memory cards and expansion packs for Maths, Physics and Electrical Engineering...... all in perfect condition with manuals, but useless without a working calculator to put them in. The newer 50G uses standard SD cards and not the unique cards used on the old models. At some point, we all have to break with the past because technology moves on..... it makes no sense spending a great deal of money for old technology because not only is it prone to failure..... but when it fails (and it will fail) you will find it extremely difficult to get it repaired. The hardware is not the issue with modern electronics because it is now extremely reliable...... but the earlier years, saw quite a bit of failure while the technology was being developed and refined. I know what I am talking about, I have worked in the field of Electronics all my life..... from vacuum tubes to surface-mount multi-layer PCB's ...... I currently lecture electronics at a University but I worked for over 20 years in the industry and designed numerous systems before retiring to become a teacher. I could have cut open my calculators.... sourced compatible displays and repaired them myself ..... but what a waste of time and effort, I decided to move on..... and believe it or not, the 50G IS an improvement in many ways...... I would not want to go backward to those older units for practical usage..... so it's a 'nostalgic attachment' to them, nothing more. The same is true with my music and photography..... why would I want to go back to multi-track analog reel tape recorders in 2018 ? .... or photographic film in my cameras ? ..... after tasting the convenience and capability of the newest digital technology..... my success in life has been based on moving forward and staying on top of technological development... Embrace the future Tarek and you'll be a happy man.

[@jazperfatsso707]

Texas Instruments must have been watching this Vlog,...because the TI-nspire CAS is what everyone in SpaceX R&D and Main Projects are using as well as the Casio Classpad II ....sometimes we just need a little boost up from the critics. =)

[@StephenMendes]

Reverse Polish Notation (RPN) is the only way I work.... nested brackets is time consuming.... when Texas Instruments decides to offer RPN ... then I will buy their calculators.... they also need to offer USER keyboard and quick switching between Rectangular and Polar notation on the stack so I can see all elements in either mode

[@jazperfatsso707]

@@StephenMendes you have a point there, ..didn't think about that.

[@StephenMendes]

Thanks

[@eried]

Nice collection but I think you never really used the 49g+, 50g it is a real improvement. I had three 49g+ due the bad quality of the device, yours is in mint condition but with a slight use you will see how the golden paint fades and the keys break.

[@rickideemus]

Man, I gotta think if you have 20% tolerance, you should do it in your head! Add a calculator into the mix and the potential for inaccuracy skyrockets. Just one leeeetle decimal point to the right or to the left... What percentage of HP calculator owners are engineers, do you think? Can't be over 50% (give or take 20%)!

[@rickideemus]

I enjoyed your video very much, but must take issue with "Nobody goes back from RPN.." I started out with RPN way back with the HP-65, also the 25. But when I saw you could use normal algebraic expressions on a Sharp pocket computer I switched -- and I know more than one math professor who also switched. Yes, RPN is faster and saves program steps, but fine mathematicians barely care about speed AT ALL. It's accuracy and ability to re-re-re-check your work. And RPN has no place in a CAS. JMHO.

[@nomadvehr827]

I had a legacy 27 and 67. When college came unfortunately or fortunately I chose BASIC with the Casio fx880p vs. the 48S and 48G available at the time.

[@phophollety]

I use and like RPN, thats why I own HP calculators, now TI, becuase its more useful to type in RPN modes. But when I need to do complex stuffs, like simulations, matrix manipulations and etc, I just swap to Matlab and thing are easier there more math power a a full size keyboard to type everything.

[@ElectronicsTechnoMusic]

Amazing ;) Good Crack ;)

[@stickem721]

I still have my 48SX from 1989 and it works perfectly! I could not believe that the TI's became so popular vs the HP in the early-mid-90s. It must have been price point, which may have forced HP to build plastic crap to attempt to compete (?). I just bought another SX & GX both in great condition off of eBay to use as back-ups :)

[@StephenMendes]

This is encouraging as I have most of the Library cards and memory cards for the 48SX & GX but no way to use them any more ...... so either I would have to buy the calculators or sell the cards ...... do you want or need them ? ..... since I am now happy with the 50G, I see no point in going back to the older technology.

[@CristiNeagu]

"In this short, 2 minute video..." _Looks at the timeline..._ Nani!?

[@AngelDarthNet]

an HP with full-HD oled please

[@StephenMendes]

Yes we would LOVE THAT.... but unfortunately, as another user observed on one of my other hp videos..... engineers have switched to using computer programs .... and the only market for calculators is now school children and University students .... and Texas Instruments dominates that market ...... calculator manufacturing is now a LOSS for hp ..... and that is why the Prime is so pathetic when compared with their Flagship HP calculators of past decades

[@crusader2.0_loading89]

When a screen quits after 25 years I hardly think that's worthy of being called a 'built-in self destruct'

[@StephenMendes]

It did NOT last anything like 25 years and it quit long before I made the KZbin video about it.... but in any case, I have several LCD screens on Yamaha and Roland musical instruments that are now 35 years old and the instruments and screens are in perfect working order. You may speak for yourself, but I for one, expected a much longer lasting product from Hewlett-Packard (a Company that once was known for quality products). I paid premium dollars for the calculator (and they were NOT cheap) and I expected to last my lifetime (or beyond).

[@juanitocastro55]

Hp 50g, the best!!!!!

[@IExSet]

HP Prime is not calculator but rather cell phone w/o GSM module :-( Missing HP 43s and HP 51g

[@MrRobbyvent]

The first was hp 28

[@pcuimac]

HP 48GX and 50G are very nice calcs, but in the age of Macs/PCs and Mathematica for 300€, it's more like a hobby and can't really compete. And if you want a 48G, you can just use the emulation on every "smart"-phone. I like the HP Prime with it's far superior performance and handling to the 48&50.

[@StephenMendes]

It's mostly nostalgia with these calculators ..... people collect calculators like vintage cars or postage stamps 😂.... they are rarely used for actual calculation (I mean some people have 50 or more calculators and they all certainly do not get used "regularly") ...... you need to understand the PSYCHOLOGY of "collectors" ...... whether it's guitars (and I know a guy personally who has several ROOMS full of guitars .... at least 60 of them) ....... or some other object ..... the person has the same MO..... but it's a fairly harmless addiction when compared to other "mental disorders" 😁

[@gcolombelli]

​@@StephenMendes For collectors, there are tons of reasons. But for some people like me, it's just an appreciation of how much it made our lives so much easier. When I was in college, laptop computers were ridiculously expensive and way underpowered compared to desktops, I could never justify such an expense. But a HP-48G was in such a sweet spot of price, computing power and ease of use that it would be foolish not to buy one. Also, I could use my HP48 on exams and no one would ever allow me to use an laptop, for obvious reasons. Also, RPN was a huge bonus. It was just way too easy to get used to it and entering small programs on it was super easy and practical. The fact that it could do loops, truncate and round numbers, made the numerical methods class a breeze... it felt like cheating, even though the professor wiped the memory clean before each exam. I even asked him if he was OK with it as it felt like the calculator was doing all the work for me, to which he replied "if you can program it to do what I've asked, then my work is done, you have learned what I wanted to teach." I had way more fun on those exams with my calculator than playing games on my computer back then. Sure, I could write way more useful and complex programs in my computer using C or Common Liisp (yeah, I was a weird kid), but I also enjoyed spending some time reading the user manual of my 48G and programming it, as I always had it with me during classes and exams and anything I could learn to do in it, any UserRPL code I could quickly write, would be a huge benefit.

[@StephenMendes]

You are welcome... glad you enjoyed it

[@Blustride]

I doubt that Tablets will completely replace real calculators. I know I much prefer buttons...Then again, I've spent hundreds of dollars on mechanical keyboards.

[@turkopr1008]

don't worry i fixed my 49g+ keyboard with glue(cement). you must to open the calculator. In my conuntry(mexico) i bought 5000 glue

[@matthewholloway81]

amen to that

[@toowaker37]

One thing HP48 thru 50G calculators don't do well is statistics. I'm a chemist and unfortunately even though I have owned and still own many HP Calcs, at work I use the TI Nspire CX CAS. The same thing is true for the HP35S scientific, it's a great calculator, but HP screwed up big time when the limited the number of Stats functions. Honestly though the new HP50G feels like a cheap piece of Chinese crap, nothing like the military build of the HP48G.

[@tibfulv]

Wow. I have the 48gx. I was unaware manuals had become so poor. Blimey. Small wonder HP had such problems ....

[@angel_machariel]

True Stephen. One does not simply go back after having worked with RPN. I still didn't after 25 years.

[@tasaeki]

The first graphing hp was the 28...

[@StephenMendes]

Did I say something wrong ? I never knew about the 28 ...... the first hp calculator I saw was the 48SX ...... but it's not surprising, I live on a small Caribbean island and before Fed-EX , DHL and Internet became a reality, we were fairly isolated from such things..... some store brought in the 48SX and had it selling for $1,400..... I was the sucker that bought it 😂

[@tasaeki]

Stephen Mendes sorry to hear that. The first gaphing hp was the 28c, and then the 28s. Take a look at the hp calculator museum. You’ll find a lot of info there.

[@StephenMendes]

@@tasaeki Bro my $1400 calculator died due to bad LCD screen.... and since then I have had to ditch quite a few other hp calculators for same problem..... the last thing I would do now is spend money on second-hand old technology that could fail at any time ..... I currently have two hp50g that are working perfectly (I hope they will last my lifetime as hopefully the technology is improved in the screens) ..... but I got the hp PRIME on my ipad (just in case) ..... I do not plan to buy any more calculators ever again ...... but thanks for the info

[@tasaeki]

Stephen Mendes hp 48 G and some other with LCD problems is weird. You live very close to the coast lime? I’m really sorry for you. I hear Almir and had myself a hp48G dead from battery leak. And the 48G’s re non serviceable as is fused together. But still, The old nos have the best key touch. I’ve got myself 3 48Gs, one of them new in box. Hope mine lasts as well.

[@StephenMendes]

@@tasaeki I hope yours lasts ..... I live on an island so it's impossible to get more than a couple miles from the sea .... however I have LOTS of devices with LCD screens..... NEVER had a color screen fail...... and some monochrome screens have survived for over 40 years ...... so I just had bad experiences with CALCULATOR screens ....... I had a Texas Instruments fail the same way .... so it's not isolated to HP.... best wishes with yours

[@jetset808]

dude.. this is important shit.. engineers still use RPN mode which is only on the hp..

[@StephenMendes]

but welcome to the 21st century..... "military grade" quality and feel is absent from ALL consumer grade electronics these days..... except for maybe Apple products (which usually have slightly better "presentation")

[@phophollety]

Agreed, this calculators has CAS and lots of cool functions for mathematicians but if you're a mathematician you are not in the field, you are in your office (you don't even have a lab...) so its much easier to you use a computer app for it, because of speed and resources... For engineers speed is more necessary than accuracy because we work with tolerances, makes no sense using lots of decimals when you have 20% tolerance... and bridges falls because of bad projects, not bad calculators...

[@rickideemus]

But your statement was "NOBODY goes back from RPN." You have to stop thinking EVERYBODY is an engineer. Also, some of these calculators HAVE a CAS that uses RPN! It's just silly, IMHO. Besides, I honestly don't understand (maybe you can explain to me) why SPEED is so much more important than accuracy to an engineer. Could that be why so many bridges keep falling down? Just asking ... I still liked your video.

[@StephenMendes]

The DISPLAYS were the weak link.... more of these have died because of the display than any other failure

[@saverusballz1295]

gosh your voice is very disturbing

[@phophollety]

But since we're engineers using this calculators we want to be fast, mathematicians can use anything for computer CAS... or ever matrix programs like matlab. This calc is designed for the engineers, in the lab or in the field.

[@itetkivop4194]

camera quality was REALLY bad, what could have been a good video had you taken time to pick up a better camera and filmed!

[@StephenMendes]

The content is what counts..... I have neither the time nor money for slick 'Hollywood' style productions.... KZbin does not allow me to monetize this account (due to my country) so where would I get the money for a PRO video camera ?..... even when I had money, there were more important things to spend it on.... so that's the reality.

[@4sineweaver2]

Let's not forget that lots of Suits earned their Golden Parachutes by flushing HP's reputation down the toilet. And isn't that what we're all striving for, really? If only they could think of a way to sell calculations by the cartridge.......

[@bragee]

Uottsaganauana

[@samichowdhury3524]

I guess u r irish

[@StephenMendes]

Every Company has Cut the Corners due to increasing cost of materials and manufacture.... and the "electronics" market is flooded with CHEAP CRAP..... finding QUALITY in anything is going to be hard in the 21st Century and beyond. Uncontrolled inflation, environmental degradation, social upheaval, population explosion, food shortages..... you got some DOOMSDAY planning to do, my friend You can either start PREPPING like crazy... or find GOD and PEACE amid the chaos.. it's your choice :)

[@phophollety]

"Man I gotta think" that some circumstances are different than others.. you might have +/- 10% in something and live with that (like electrolytic capacitors) or you may have 10ppm and live with that (like precision quartz xtals for high end GPS) that depends on WHAT are you doing... So by your answer I can presume you're NOT and engineer or have a very closed mind about general engineering.

[@StephenMendes]

Thanks